FROZEN – Elsa Cape Tutorial and a pattern review.

Like most kids, Miss G and Mr T are super fans of the movie Frozen. I won’t lie, I really do love it too. I love the story and the songs and I just love the characters. Miss G recently got an Elsa doll and promptly requested a matching dress. I set about finding the perfect pattern.

When I saw FooFoo Threads Dreamweaver pattern I knew it would be perfect. With the sweetheart neckline and the princess point on the bottom of the bodice it fit the bill. I did make a few changes. I lengthened the bodice and the skirt pieces to make it more like Elsa’s floor length dress. I also decided to fully line the dress, instead of just lining the bodice. I just love the way a full lining makes the dress hang, and it just looks so much more polished. I also added a separate, removable cape so it can be taken off and worn by itself over regular clothes. I added a tutorial below if you want to make an Elsa Cape of your own.

This dress has an elastic back bodice piece so it makes it easy for your princess to slip it off and on by herself. No tricky zippers that you have to help put on and take off.

I used the same sparkle organza as the cape to fashion the flutter sleeves, since Elsa’s sleeves are see through. I also added the sparkle organza as an overlay on the satin bodice so it would have the same sparkle as Elsa. I finished the bodice off with a metallic velvet trim, that I also added to the collar of the cape. I used crepe for the skirt so it would flow like Elsa’s skirt.

When we were buying the fabric, the sales associate asked Miss G why she wanted to be Elsa instead of Anna. Miss G replied, “Don’t you know? Elsa has the power.”

FROZEN ELSA CAPE TUTORIAL

Are you ready to make an Elsa Cape all of your own so you too can have the power?

Supplies

Cape Fabric (I used an Organza, you could use Tulle so you don’t have to sew the edges)

Measure the length for your collar piece. I just wrapped the ribbon around Miss G’s shoulders.

Figure out the length and the bottom width you want your cape and fold in half along the width. Measure the width you want the top of your cape to be. (I measured mine from the middle of each shoulder.) My top measurement was 10.5.

Take that measurement and add a few inches and cut across the top of your fabric. (Remember that your fabric is doubled so your fabric will be twice as wide when you open it, this will give you room to gather the fabric.)

After you make your top cut, turn your ruler so it is diagonal. You want it to angle from the outside top to the outside bottom. This is going to give you your cape shape.

At this point if you have used Tulle, you won’t have to do anything to finish your edges. If you used an Organza like I did you will have to finish your edges. I opted to do a rolled hem on my Serger, but you could just as easily fold over the edge 1/4, inch and iron and then fold over another 1/4 inch, iron again and then sew. You could also use fray check along the edges if you don’t want to sew.

Next you are going to create your freezer paper stencils to put snowflakes along the bottom. You draw your snowflake on the freezer paper and then cut out your shape. I just Googled simple snowflakes to get this image. After you get everything cut out you are going to iron down your freezer paper to your fabric.

After your stencil is ironed down good you are going to fill it in with paint. I use the cheap sponge brushes. Those seem to work the best. You are going to want to put something under your cape because it will go through the cape. I suggest wax paper so you can peel it away. DON’T use cardboard or paper, your paint will stick as it dries. Don’t ask me how I know this. (I am still picking cardboard off the snowflake on my cape) Let your snowflake dry well so you don’t get paint everywhere. Also don’t ask me how I know about this.

Next you are going to attach your smaller trim to your larger ribbon for the collar. I placed my trim on the bottom 3rd of the collar piece. I hate to pin trim onto something so I will give you my little trick. I use Wonder Under or hem tape on mine. Just place a strip of the Wonder that is slightly smaller than your small ribbon onto the bigger ribbon. Iron in place. Then pull off the paper and place your smaller ribbon down on top of it and iron it down. After you have your ribbon in place, sew along the edge of the ribbon with a small seam allowance. I used 1/8″ on mine.

After you get your ribbon finished up and your snowflakes have dried you are going to gather the top of your cape to fit on your collar. I forgot to take any pictures of this. The way I gather is set my machine to the longest stitch length and my tension to the lowest setting. Stitch a line along the top with a 1/8″ seam allowance. DO NOT secure your stitches at the begining or end of your stitch line. Tie off the threads on one end and then gather by pulling the bobbin thread on the other end. When you get it gathered to the length you need tie it off so you can evenly spread out the gathers. I have been dreaming of a ruffler foot because it would make things much faster. Hopefully the sewing Gods have been listening. 🙂

Next you are going to mark your collar and attach the cape. I mark my center first, then I mark each end. I will then mark the center point on the cape and start pinning it to the collar at that point. You want to attach it right along where you stitched the trim down. Attach the right side of the cape to the wrong side of the collar.

After you get it all pinned down you will want to flip it over and sew right down the strip of smaller trim. I used a zig-zag stitch that was slightly narrower than my ribbon to make sure it was securely attached. After that you are finished unless you want to attach velcro instead of tying it. Miss G doesn’t like things tied around her neck so I added velcro.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and if you have any questions just leave them in the comments and I will get back to you.